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Warlock
This article is a description of the character class '''Warlock'. For a description of the role of Warlocks within the lore of Warcraft, see Warlock (lore). ''For related articles, see Category:Warlocks. Introduction Although many that consort with demons fall to darkness, the '''Warlock' class manages to bend demonic forces to its will without succumbing to pure evil. These spellcasters can summon demons to serve them, and they also cast many painful spells that slowly eat at the life of enemies. Warlocks are typically weak physically, but they compensate for this deficiency with their potent array of spells and their demonic pets. History Warlocks were Mages that delved too deeply into the roots of demonic power. Consumed by a lust for dark knowledge, they've tapped into chaotic magic from beyond the world. The Burning Legion now feeds them its powers, allowing them to channel destructive energies and call upon the powerful emissaries of their demon masters. In most societies, the warlocks live on the fringe of civilization, tolerated but not trusted. Most people see warlock magic as a vain attempt at gaining power. During the First and Second wars, the formerly shamanistic orcs were transformed into a warlike juggernaut by their shaman-turned-warlock leaders. The Horde soon added warlocks in various forms to their armies, and orcish and ogre warlocks came to be feared within the ranks of the Alliance. In addition to the orcish warlocks, many humans and gnomes are warlocks too. These were mages that were drawn by the lure of demonic power and broke the boundaries of acceptable magical study. Many of the human warlocks pledged their lives and services to the Lich King just prior to the invasion of his undead Scourge. In the Lich King's service many of these warlocks became skilled necromancers. In addition, the Lich King granted many of his undead servants limited warlock abilities as well. When the portal to the Twisting Nether was finally opened and the demons began pouring through, it seemed that the heyday of the warlocks was at hand. However, against impossible odds, the orcs, humans and night elves defeated the Legion at Mount Hyjal in distant Kalimdor. A short time following this battle, a night elf named Illidan cast a mighty spell intended to melt the polar icecap of Northrend. The spell was interrupted, but the Frozen Throne of the Lich King was significantly damaged. The Lich King gradually lost control over a good portion of his servants. These Forsaken, as they began to call themselves, found that, while still undead, they had had their spirits returned to their bodies regaining their free will. Consequently, many of the Forsaken embraced their demonic tendancies and became warlocks. Forsaken society is perhaps the only one in which the warlocks are accepted as legitimate magic users. Overview thumb|right|An Orc Warlock is applying demon skin. At low levels, Warlocks rely primarily on pets and Damage over Time (DoT) spells to deal out pain to their enemies. They hold the power to lay various Curses on their enemies which have varying weakening or damaging effects, as well as debuff the enemy with a number of other spells. At higher levels, a significant percentage of Warlock PvE damage comes from chain-casting Shadow Bolt. Particularly in 40-person raids, the 16-debuff limit prevents full use of a Warlock's DoTs and debuffs. As Warlocks advance in level, they gain some powerful Area of Effect (AoE) spells which deal out damage to all enemies within a range, sometimes including the Warlock who casts the spell. This becomes especially valuable when the Warlock's group becomes surrounded. Another noteworthy aspect of the Warlock is the ability to summon a magical Felsteed when desired. All other clases, except Paladins, must purchase their own mounts. Races The following races can play a Warlock: * Alliance ** Gnomes ** Humans * Horde ** Blood Elves (Blood Elves are not playable until the release of the 'The Burning Crusade' expansion) ** Orcs ** Undead Weapons & Armor Warlocks can wear Cloth Armor only, and can initially use Daggers and Unarmed combat in battle. They can also use Wands for ranged combat, and equip special Orbs in their off-hand to enhance various skills. They can train at a weapon master for to gain the ability to use Swords and Staves. More information regarding Warlock-specific armor can be found at Warlock Sets. Soul Shards A large number of the Warlock's skills and spells rely on the reagent known as Soul Shards. Soul Shards are obtained by using the Drain Soul spell as an enemy is dying. Soul Shards will go into your inventory (and do not stack) for future use in spells. Be sure to always have a steady supply of Soul Shards at your disposal! A good recommendation to follow is to try to replace any Soul Shards you use immediately afterwards. It is important to note that you can only obtain a Soul Shard from an experience-giving enemy. Any enemy more than 20% levels below you (e.g.: if you are level 60, the enemy must be at least level 48) will not give experience, even if they are considered 'elite'. This means you may find yourself in an area, such as an instance, full of powerful elite enemies, none of whom will surrender a soul shard for you. Always come prepared! Heavy Shard Usage ;Heavy Shard Usage by Talent Spec and Role Destruction Warlocks use Shadowburn (an 11-point Destruction talent), an instant-cast DD spell that consumes a Soul Shard when cast. If the target dies within 5 seconds, and gives experience, the caster gains a replacement Soul Shard. Demonology Warlocks tend to use slightly more Soul Shards for summoning demons than other warlocks, as they tend to summon more frequently. Raiding Warlocks use Soul Shards to create Healthstones for their raid members, and to summon other raid members with Ritual of Summoning. Abilities Find detailed information about the warlock's various abilities on the Warlock Spells page. Pets Warlocks can summon a variety of pets, each exhibiting different skill sets which are useful in different situations. *Imp (Level Obtained: 1) : The Imp's main role is a support pet, designed to do additional damage alongside the caster via its Firebolt attack. The Imp is very fragile and will die very quickly if attacked, but it requires no Soul Shard to summon, and is often used to farm new Soul Shards when you run out and cannot summon a different pet. Other Imp abilities include Phase Shift (allowing the Imp to shift out of phase and cannot be targetted by enemies), Blood Pact, a powerful stamina buff for everyone in your party, and Fire Shield, a Thorns-like damage shield which he will cast on you and your groupmates that enter combat. With the Improved Imp and Improved Firebolt talents, the Imp is the most damaging pet in the warlock's arsenal (with the notable exceptions of the Infernal and Doomguard); at least until he runs out of mana. *Voidwalker (Level Obtained: 10, Undead, Orc, Gnome, Human) : This demon deals little damage, but has very good armor and good hit points. The Voidwalker's main ability, Torment is a taunt that causes enemies to lose focus of the warlock and instead attack the Voidwalker. There is also a PBAOE version of Torment called Suffering. This makes for an excellent soloing pet, and is also great for farming additional Soul Shards. Additional Voidwalker spells include Sacrifice, which kills your Voidwalker but creates a 30-second damage absorption shield for the warlock, and Consume Shadows which is an out of combat self-heal for the Voidwalker. *Succubus (Level Obtained: 20, Undead, Orc, Alliance) : The Succubus is replete with spells that deal damage and mesmerize the enemy in different ways. Her first ability, Lash of Pain, is a direct-damage, low-mana cast that deals shadow damage to her target. Other spells include Soothing Kiss, which causes an enemy to ignore her (the reverse of the Voidwalker's Torment ability) and Seduction, which mesmerizes a target for 15 seconds (or until attacked). The Succubus also has a self-only Lesser Invisibility spell. Succubus deals the most damage of all the basic pets, without talent upgrades. : Quest: Hearts of the pure ( undead ) *Felhunter (Level Obtained: 30, Horde, Alliance) : The Felhunter is your anti-caster pet. Where the Succubus deals lots of melee damage, the Voidwalker is a great tank and the Imp deals lots of ranged damage, the Felhunter has high magic resist and has abilities to counterspell (Spell Lock), remove buffs from enemies and remove debuffs from friendlies (Devour Magic). The Warlock employing a meleeing Felhunter can also use Tainted Blood to reduce the Attack power of enemies when they land hits. *Infernal (Level Obtained: 50, from Grimoire of Inferno or Kroshius' Infernal Core) : While it deals better melee damage than the Succubus, has higher HP, fire immunity, and more AC than a Voidwalker, it needs to be enslaved (with the Enslave Demon spell). This demon can break loose unexpectedly, causing it to turn on its former master. It can be enslaved again, but Enslave is subject to diminishing returns -- the duration decreases with each successive casting on the same demon. The Infernal deals strictly in melee damage, combined with an immolation effect that hurts all enemies nearby. It also requires an Infernal Stone to summon. *Doomguard (Level Obtained: 60, from Curse of Doom or Ritual of Doom) : The Doomguard is the most powerful Warlock pet. It has the highest HP and AC, as well as having Rain of Fire, Dispel, Cripple and Warstomp. A properly used Doomguard can take out entire camps of enemies at a time before perishing. However, like the Infernal, it requires Enslave Demon to be cast on it to stay within the Warlock's control. It can be re-enslaved after but the Enslave's duration diminishes after each casting. Curse of Doom has about a 10% chance of summoning a Doomguard if it deals the killing damage. Ritual of Doom will summon a Doomguard 100% of the time, but requires the assistance of your party, and will kill one of your groupmates. Ritual of Doom requires a Demonic Figurine reagent. Mounts *Felsteed (Level Obtained: 40, from Strahad Farsan in Ratchet) : The Felsteed is the 'free mount' that Warlocks receive at level 40. Other than Paladins, all other classes must pay for a mount. This is a great help since Warlocks must purchase spells for their summoned pets as well. *Dreadsteed (Level Obtained: 60, from Mor'zul Bloodbringer in Burning Steppes near the Altar of Storms) : The Dreadsteed is the Warlock Epic level 60 mount. This pet is obtained though a long quest line. It is not free, but it is still available to Warlocks at a significant discount compared to other classes ( , compared to ~ for everyone else). Direct Damage Spells The Warlock's direct damage spells are either Shadow or Fire based. While a Warlock's direct damage does not compare to the Mage, when coupled with their DoTs and a pet they can achieve a strong, steady DPS. *Shadow Bolt *Searing Pain *Soul Fire *Death Coil *Rain of Fire *Hellfire *Conflagrate (talent) *Shadowburn (talent) Curses The Warlock has available variety of curses, but only one can be cast upon an enemy at a given time. This creates the need for determining an appropriate Curse in a given situation. Curses include strength-draining, damage-over-time, resistance depletion, and others. *Curse of Weakness *Curse of Agony *Curse of Recklessness *Curse of Tongues *Curse of the Elements *Curse of Shadow *Curse of Doom Curse of Exhaustion(Talent) Conjured Items Another powerful ability of the Warlock is to create varying Stones from Soul Shards. Certain stones are wielded in the off-hand, and enhance damage, or remove negative spell effects. All conjured items disappear 15 minutes after logging off. *Create Healthstone - Creates a stone that will heal damage. It comes in various strengths and is tradable. It is very similar to a health potion, but on a separate timer. *Create Soulstone - Creates a stone that allows you to insure someone's soul for 30 minutes. That person can self resurrect if they died while the soulstone was active. *Create Firestone - Creates a non-tradable off-hand item which adds Fire damage to your wielded weapon. *Create Spellstone - Creates a non-tradable stone that when equipped and used, will absorb magical damage and remove all magic effects -- good and bad. While equipped, it will increase the warlock's spell crit chance. Healing While a Warlock is by no means a healer, they do have some limited ability to heal themselves, their pet and others while in combat and even resurrect! To heal themselves there are Drain Life, Siphon Life (talent) and Death Coil which, conveniently, also damage the target. To heal others (or himself), a Warlock can create a Healthstone and hand it to another member of their party. To heal their pet they have Health Funnel. To resurrect a target a Warlock may use a Soulstone on the target before it dies (30 minutes Buff duration and Cooldown), allowing it to resurrect on death. Miscellany The Warlock has other valuable spells at their disposal: *Fear - sends an enemy fleeing for a period of time *Ritual of Summoning - a ritual requiring 2 other party members which allows you to summon another party member to your location *Eye of Kilrogg - a fragile but speedy eye that allows you to scout out dangerous areas from a safe distance. Talents *Demonology - Demonology talents improve the effect of your Stones, as well as the abilities of your pets. *Affliction - Affliction talents enhance the effects of the Warlock's various Curses. *Destruction - Destruction talents add to the damage done by the Warlock's direct damage spells. Talent builders can be found at Official Blizzard site, Panda Hideout, WoW Vault, ThottBot, Merciless Talent Calculator. See the Warlock Talents page for detailed information and talent trees. End-Game Expectations DPS, Soulstones, Pet Tanking, is there anything that Warlocks can't do? You are a jack of all trades, but mostly DPS is your specialty. Make good use of your Soul Shards, be prepared to Summon late comers, and give out some of that soul candy you call Healthstones. Be prepared to banish a lot of elementals, since you're the only form of Crowd Control in Molten Core. Also, don't forget to Soulstone the MT or Healers, it may make the difference in whether you live or wipe. Side-Note: The 1320 Healthstone is the rarest of them all, so it would be a good idea to invest a talent point in being able to create them. Macros There are a couple of nifty Warlock macros, I will try and post a few of them here for you: * The following script will cast Curse of Agony as long as the targets health doesn't go below 20%. Using the script on the target and the health is below 20% it will instead cast the "anti-flee curse", Curse of Recklessness. However, you can also cast agony on mobs with less than 20% health by holding the alt key when activating the macro. /script if (UnitHealth("target")<20 and not IsAltKeyDown()) then CastSpellByName("Curse of Recklessness(Rank 1)") else CastSpellByName("Curse of Agony(Rank 1)") end; * The following script will cast Drain Soul, to collect soul shards, if the targets health is below 10%. /script if (UnitHealth("target")<10) then CastSpellByName("Drain Soul(Rank 1)") end; * The following script casts Curse of Tongues on mobs or PCs with mana, Curse of Weakness on anything without mana. When the mob drops under 30% health, the script casts Curse of Recklessness. I also keep the PVP script below so that I don't Curse of Tongues a Hunter in PVP. /script if (UnitHealth("target")<30) then CastSpellByName("Curse of Recklessness(Rank 1)") else if (UnitMana("target")>0) then CastSpellByName("Curse of Tongues(Rank 1)") else CastSpellByName("Curse of Weakness(Rank 1)") end end; * The following script is a nice little nifty PVP script, if the target you are attacking is a caster you will cast Curse of Tongues and if its a melee you will cast Curse of Weakness. /script if (UnitClass("target") "Warrior" or UnitClass("target") "Rogue" or UnitClass("target") "Paladin" or UnitClass("target") "Hunter") then CastSpellByName("Curse of Weakness(Rank 1)") else CastSpellByName("Curse of Tongues(Rank 1)") end; * The following script will cast Shadow Bolt or Searing Pain if the Warlock has mana enough to do so; if not it will use the equipped wand. /script if (UnitMana("player")>150) then if (UnitHealth("target")>50) then CastSpellByName("Shadow Bolt(Rank 1)") else CastSpellByName("Searing Pain(Rank 1)") end else CastSpellByName("Shoot") end; * The following script will cast Curse of Recklessness on humanoid monsters to prevent runners, cast Curse of Tongues on non-humanoid casters, or cast Curse of Agony on any other kind of monster. /script if (UnitCreatureType("target") "Humanoid") then CastSpellByName("Curse of Recklessness(Rank 1)") else if (UnitMana("target")>0) then CastSpellByName("Curse of Tongues(Rank 1)") else CastSpellByName("Curse of Agony(Rank 1)") end end; Note: All spells are tagged as "Rank 1" and should be edited for best usage. Note: If cutting and pasting into WoW as a macro, ensure formatting is correct (e.g. removing superfluous spaces) before using. Addons There are several crucial Soul Shard handling add-ons for Warlocks. * ShardSort automatically puts all of your shards in one bag. You can get it here. Unzip it to the Interface/Addons/ directory in your World of Warcraft directory. You'll also need to make a few small changes to the Shardsort.toc file. Open it in Notepad, then change the version number to match the current version of WoW (1500). Before you run ShardSort, you need to set the bag it uses. Type /shardbag 4 to place your shards in the far left bag, or /shardbag 0 to put the shards in your backpack. :Note: With the newest 1.9 patch and the addition of Soul Pouches, this add-on is now pretty useless. *SoulCount counts the shards you have, and attaches the number to your minimap. With a slight modification, SoulCount can also automatically run ShardSort any time you get a new shard. Get the mod here. Unzip it to the Interface/Addons/ directory, then open ShardCountDisplay.lua in Notepad. Add a new line after you see UpdateShardCount(); and put ShardSort_Sort(); on that line. * ShardTracker includes a ShardCounter,a Sorting Feature, Buttons for your Stone Creation Spells and some small other usefull Features. You can get it here. There are also some other really good add-ons for Warlocks. * Servitude is a very good Pet Control Plugin. It has many features for controlling the autocast of your Felhunter, Voidwalker, Succubus or Imp. You can get it here. * Necrosis is a very good All-in-one Addon including sorting shards into a specific bag, showing the total amount of soulshards you have, good looking graphical interface, servitude functions for your pets, buttons for your mount, soulstone, healthstone, spellstone, firestone, a summoner menu, sounds for critical damage, shadow trance, enslave demon break, soulstone expire and spell timer displays. Get it here. * LockBox will provide a large amount of automation for warlocks and includes much of the macro functionality listed in this article above. It's primary purpose is to simply grinding while you are levelling your warlock up to end game content. It can cast appropriate curses, DoT's and drains, will manage your soulstones (keeping you topped off to a set number and only casting Drain Soul when you will get a stone from the target), recalls runners with Curse of Recklessness, ensures Armor/Skin is up and sends in your pet. Get it here. See Also See Starting a Warlock for some advice when starting out. See the Warlock Category for further information on the Warlock class, including spells. Some good info at the official WoW forums: * Warlock FAQ ---- Category:Classes Warlock Category:Gnome Category:Human Category:Orc Category:Forsaken Category:Horde classes Category:Alliance classes